Reflecting and journaling during this time is vital, take some inventory of your feelings and experiences.
Here’s a few journal prompts to get you started:
How do you feel about your ancestors?
Have you noticed anything in your ancestors that you see in yourself? Note the Similarities.
How do you feel about your ancestors? List the positives and negatives?
Have you discovered any new traditions?
Have you discovered anything that is troubling, that left you feeling unsettled?
Are you proud or inspired by your ancestors?
If you had to choose, would you choose your ancestors? Do you think they would choose you?
What knowledge have you gained from your ancestors?
From this new perspective of healing ancestral DNA patterns, what may you heal in your own life that you inherited from your ancestry?
Although we cannot erase the past, we can choose to live and learn, grow and evolve into doing and being better! Throughout lineages, we have adopted many unknown perspectives for example, religions, beliefs, work ethic, even personality traits.
Acknowledging our ancestors, who they were, what they went through, what were their strengths and weaknesses?
Bringing awareness to the past can really change your perspection on the life you are living today, and can ripple through your family.
Remembering their lives and celebrate their death as only transformation.
All Saints Day
November 1st
A tradition that I became more familiar with during my ancestry, which has become of much importance is All Saints Day! Following Halloween and dating back to the Roman Catholics in 837. It is one of the oldest holidays on the Western calendar (unknown to most). Originally was a day to honor saints, known and unknown. In New Orleans, it is a day to celebrate, honor and visit the dead.
Ancestor Reverence
Honor and celebrate traditions of your ancestors. Example: Light a candle as an offering to your ancestors who walked before you. Remembering their lives and celebrate their death as only transformation on their spiritual journey.
Visit a cemetery of an ancestor.
Create a scared space with items that are symbolic or represent your ancestors, a time period, a country, a culture. This may include photos, gemstones from their land, inherited objects from the deceased, inspired artwork, religious items, photos, plants or herbs.
Participate in perhaps your ancestors practices, prayers, rituals, teachings or spiritual healing practices. Cook and eat from their culture, learn a dance, song, instrument, even dress up? Sky’s the limit!
Probably my favorite way to acknowledge our ancestral lineages, is by sharing their stories. Share with tour family, friends, who ever will listen.
Above all, the most important way to honor our ancestors is to find and fulfill your life’s purpose here on Earth!
